March 2023 Newsletter

A volunteer work day was held Saturday, March 25, at the Pearl Clark Community Garden. It is one of the 11 locations that are part of the Common Ground program.

Common Ground program seeking volunteers

Common Ground, the community gardening and urban agriculture program, has 11 sites across Lawrence and needs volunteers (individuals or groups) to help maintain the gardens, plant and harvest produce, and transport produce to local food banks.

For the 2023 season, Common Ground sites that need the most volunteer help are:

Little Prairie Donation Garden & Orchard—Peterson Park, North Iowa Street and Peterson Road. Contact Darin Brunin at bruninda@gmail.com.
Lawrence Community Orchard—830 Garfield Street. Contact Skyler Adamson at lawrencefruittreeproject@gmail.com.
Growing Together Community Garden—West Third and Alabama streets. Contact Umut Bayramoglu at ubayramoglu@douglascountyks.org.

A few of the Common Ground sites have designated areas that are open to the public throughout the gardening season. For designated public-picking, please visit:

The public section of the Garden Incubator at John Taylor Park, located at Seventh and Walnut streets.
The Lawrence Community Orchard, located at 830 Garfield St.
Growing Together Community Garden, located at West Third and Alabama streets.

Established in 2012, the Common Ground program provides residents underutilized properties for use as community gardens and farming land for minimal cost. It serves a dozen beginning farmers, more than 230 gardeners, as well as hundreds of community members that benefit from food donations and opportunities for physical activity. Last year, Common Ground donated more than 8,000 pounds of produce to local food banks.

Questions? Contact: Program Manager Umut Bayramoglu at 785-312-2347 or ubayramoglu@douglascountyks.org.

Common Ground website

Douglas County selected to participate in training about right-to-counsel programs for tenants

Douglas County was selected as a jurisdiction to participate in a virtual nine-session training series titled “Advancing Racial and Health Justice through Right to Counsel for Tenants Facing Eviction,” that began March 15.

During the series, Douglas County community members are exploring how a right to counsel for tenants promotes housing stability and how cities, counties and states can advance and implement right to counsel programs and policies. The series is hosted by national organizations National Coalition for Civil Right to Counsel, Policy Link, and Human Impact Partners.

There are 18 participants from Douglas County representing the City of Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas Legal Services, The Sexual Trauma and Abuse Care Center (The Care Center), local law firms, Douglas County courts, Lawrence Community Shelter, and other concerned community members.

More information

SAVE THE DATE!

Housing and Homelessness stakeholder group seeking input on five-year strategic plan

The Housing and Homelessness Steering Committee, which is facilitated by the City of Lawrence and Douglas County, is seeking your input on its draft five-year Housing and Homelessness strategic plan. The plan has five focus areas: equity and inclusion, affordable housing, supportive housing, systems and emergency shelter.

The committee will be hosting listening sessions:

Thursday, April 20, noon-1:30 p.m., virtually by Zoom.
Friday, May 5, 9-10:30 a.m., Lawrence Union Pacific Depot, 402 N. Second St., Lawrence.
Thursday, May 18, 5:30-7 p.m., Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St., Lawrence.

By 2028, the goal is to create a system that achieves functional zero through policy, system and environmental changes resulting in all Douglas County residents having access to the fundamental human right of safe, accessible, attainable, and affordable housing, and which homelessness is a rare and brief occurrence.

Assistant County Administrator Jill Jolicoeur provided information about the draft plan during a County Commission work session on March 29. To view background information, the draft plan and presentation slides, visit: http://dgcoks.org/032923ws

To view the work session: https://youtu.be/CREID-BJBXg

*Check our website and social media for upcoming information about the listening sessions.

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center

Douglas County District Court transitioning to statewide case management system on April 3

Douglas County District Court will transition to the new Kansas eCourt centralized case management system on Monday, April 3.

The Kansas Judicial Branch case management system is intended to assist the public in accessing available case information. Public records are both case data and case documents. What will be available through the portal is described in Supreme Court Rule 22: Access to Public Electronic District Court Case Records.

Only documents filed after a court begins operating on the Kansas eCourt case management system will be available through the public access portal, as permitted under Supreme Court rule. Case data that predates the court beginning to operate on the Kansas eCourt case management system will be available if it complies with Supreme Court rule.

Public records not available through the public access portal will be available at the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. Eleventh St. Each court has a computer reserved for public searches of court cases and court records in that court.

Sealed cases and sealed records are not public and will not be available through either the public portal or the courthouse terminal.

More information: https://www.kscourts.org/eCourt/District-Court-Records

About your Board of County Commissioners

Chair Patrick Kelly

Vice Chair Karen Willey

Shannon Reid

The Board of County Commissioners meets at 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays in the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts Street, on the second floor in the Commission meeting room. Meetings are also available on Zoom.

The County Commission took the following action on regular business agenda items in March:

approved a request to rezone 37 acres at 2384 N 200 Road, west of Edgerton, from agriculture to transitional agriculture.
approved allowing one additional residence to take access from private road East 773 Road, east of Lecompton.
approved a $5,000 funding request for this year’s Juneteenth Celebration in Lawrence
approved a services agreement with the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition
denied a conditional-use permit for mining, excavation and/or extraction of natural resources at 1174 E 2300 Road, near Eudora.
on a 2-1 vote, with Commissioner Reid opposing, deferred a decision on temporary business-use permits that would allow utility-scale, solar-related testing activity on seven properties in Palmyra Township. Commissioners asked staff to explore the possibility of a third party assessment of the cultural and archeological artifacts that may be in the specific areas where testing would be conducted and for the history of NextEra Energy Resources’ conditional-use permits and temporary business permits in Douglas County and to determine if any additional conditions may be necessary.

** Recordings of the meetings can be found on the Douglas County YouTube channel.

Work sessions

County Commissioners also have work sessions to study and discuss various topics throughout the year. No action is taken during work sessions. If there's a work session, they are held at 4 p.m. on Wednesdays before the business meeting. Here’s the schedule for upcoming work sessions; however, these may change. So, please check the agenda before attending.

April 5 – K-State Research and Extension Council stratetic plan
April 12 – Heritage Conservation Council partners
April 19 – Behavioral health crisis system data

Commission meeting information and agendas

How many bridges does Douglas County Public Works maintain?

158

Don't cheat! Answer is at the bottom.

Sheriff's Office to host collection site in Lawrence for National Drug Take Back Day on April 22

Douglas County residents can remove expired and unneeded medications from their homes as the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office will operate a National Drug Take Back Day collection site on Saturday, April 22, in downtown Lawrence.

The drive-through site will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot outside the Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., and the Sheriff’s Office will accept expired or unused prescription and over-the-counter medications. Veterinary drugs will also be accepted.

The Sheriff’s Office cannot accept needles, sharps or inhalers. University of Kansas School of Pharmacy students are scheduled to volunteer at the site as well. The event is free to the public and anonymous.

District Court Judge Stacey Donovan, right, participates in a reentry simulation exercise in 2022.

Community invited to participate in reentry simulation on April 26

Douglas County Sheriff's Office Reentry staff is offering a reentry simulation from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 26, in Flory Meeting Hall, 2120 Harper St., at the Douglas County Fairgrounds.

The educational outreach event provides insight into the challenges that individuals face as they navigate from being in custody to being in the community. The event is free and open to anyone. It is recommended for those who work in criminal justice or social services.

Douglas County District Court Judge Stacey Donovan, who participated in a 2022 exercise, said she would encourage fellow judges to sign up as well as anyone who regularly works with people who qualify for indigent services, including assistant district attorneys, attorneys on the indigent defense panel for criminal cases or limited-civil cases.

“I think it benefits me as a judge or anyone else as a judge to have a better understanding of what people who are coming before you are going through,” Donovan said. “If you put yourself in their shoes, it can give you just another step ahead of where you were. Maybe you will think of some things or look at them in a different way than you did before. I never think that can be a bad thing.”

Story: Judge Donovan discusses her experience
Video: Reentry Director Carrie Neis discusses reentry simulations
Video: Brandon Schrimsher's story

$285,000 in grants available through Heritage Conservation Council

The Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council (HCC) announces $210,000 in funding is available through its 2023 Natural & Cultural grant program. An additional $75,000 is available this year for projects that inform Douglas County’s Open Space planning.

HCC encourages applications that focus on the conservation of cultural, natural, agricultural or environmental resources, or projects that produce educational programs or products on these topics. All projects must take place in Douglas County, Kansas, and be completed within two years.

News release: http://dgcoks.org/news031523

Natural & Cultural grant website

Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence

Agencies hosting April events that focus on preserving natural and cultural history

Here are some upcoming events that have received funding through the Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council's Natural & Cultural grant program:

History Harvest - April 5

10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday, April 5, at Lawrence Public Library

Oak Hill Cemetery potter’s field was used from 1865 to 1917 and was the section of the cemetery where those who couldn’t afford a proper burial were buried in an unmarked grave. The Community Remembrance Project is recording stories and materials (photographs, documents, and other objects) about and related to the lives of those buried in the potter’s field, the history of Oak Hill Cemetery potter’s field, and the Lawrence funeral industry.

Do you have a story or materials to share? Visit Lawrence Public Library's Sound + Vision Studio from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. to be a part of the project or to ask questions and chat, then head to the auditorium for a presentation on the results of the geophysical survey and research at 6:30 p.m. More info

Grazing the native prairie in Douglas County: Cultural and ecological perspectives - April 20 and April 22

6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Thursday, April 20, Worden Cornerstone Church, 298 E 900^th Road, Baldwin City. More info
10 a.m.-noon Saturday, April 22, Lecompton Community Building, 333 Elmore St., Lecompton. More info

Join Kansas Biological Survey, in partnership with K-State Research and Extension, for a discussion about the cultural and ecological importance of the largest tracts of prairie in the county: our native grazing lands. Speakers will talk about local history, pollinators and grassland birds, and issues affecting the future of these important lands.

Earth Day Celebration at Prairie Park - April 22

1 p.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, April 22, 2811 Kensington Road, Lawrence

Stop by to plant and seed native wildflowers and grasses, learn more about how to protect and restore our native ecosystems, and have some fun with crafts for folks of all ages. More info

Douglas County warns of potential scam

Douglas County became aware of a potential scam a couple of weeks ago. The mailer from issuer “J.S. Brown” poses as a “final notice” that says the State of Kansas can seize assets and garnish wages and bank accounts due to unpaid tax liability. The mailer was not sent by Douglas County.

If you are a victim of a scam, contact the Kansas Attorney General’s Office – Consumer Protection Division at 785-296-2215.

Tips to avoid becoming the victim of a scam

Beware of mailers that include typos, errors in grammar or generic names and phone numbers that don’t seem to match Douglas County or the organization reported to be contacting you.

If someone is threatening you with an arrest or seizure of property unless you pay a sum of money, especially on the same day, it is a scam.

Verify any phone numbers listed. Do not call a number provided to you by someone threatening you. Instead, use a verified number to contact the government agency that could help you determine if you owe taxes. Contact information for Douglas County departments is available at: https://douglascountyks.org/departments

Avoid unusual payment methods such as Bitcoin, gift cards or requests to wire money. Keep your personal information private as well, including Social Security numbers and account numbers, unless you have called the official government agency using a number you independently verified.